MORE HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
Criminal probes of top Israeli political figures continued to
dominate headlines in recent months. In April, police recommended
closing the investigation of President Ezer Weizman for accepting over
$400,000 in secret cash gifts from French millionaire Edouard Seroussi.
The report found insufficient evidence to indict Weizman for
bribe-taking and tax evasion, and while there was ample proof he
committed fraud and breach of trust, the five-year statute of
limitations had expired on those charges. Attorney-General Elyakim
Rubinstein and State Attorney Edna Arbel will now determine whether to
close the case; Rubinstein is expected to simply issue a strong
condemnation of Weizman for violating accepted ethical norms. Despite
the apparent reprieve, Israeli papers and politicians still called on
him to resign. A poll found 56% of Israelis agreed, with most feeling
police went easier on Weizman than on other politicians under recent
scrutiny. The 76-year-old ex-fighter pilot finally said he would leave
office before his term is up in 2003, but cited health reasons instead.
Sources believe he will look for a quiet moment to exit, with Shimon
Peres his leading replacement.
Meanwhile, a national fraud squad ended its exhaustive, bruising,
seven-month investigation of former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu by
recommending indictments against him, his wife Sara, and two office
staff on various charges related to unpaid maintenance bills and alleged
theft of state property. The special police unit suspects Netanyahu of
obstructing justice, bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, while his wife
faces charges of attempted fraud and theft. The report focused on the
Netanyahus’ failure to pay for work by a private contractor and their
alleged attempts to pass on the costs to the state. During the ensuing
investigation, police rifled through the Netanyahus’ private home and
a state warehouse, and found some 700 gifts received while Netanyahu was
in office, but which are deemed state property. Netanyahu called the
charges "baseless" and suggested they were politically
motivated to prevent his possible comeback to national office. He
explained they offered to pay the contractor, but he "kept putting
us off," and said the dispute involved only how much was owed.
Netanyahu said the gifts were locked in a government storeroom, and they
planned to sort through them in time and place some in the office
provided for former prime ministers, as allowed by law. The police
actions actually boosted Netanyahu’s popularity, according to a Gallup
poll published in early April. The survey showed Netanyahu in a virtual
tie with current Prime Minister Ehud Barak (42% each) in a theoretical
race between the two, the first time he has pulled even since Barak
handily defeated him, 56-44 percent, in last May’s elections.
Police were heavily criticized for their over-zealous pursuit of the
Netanyahus and for repeated leaks to the press. This stood in sharp
contrast to the deference shown Weizman, who was discreetly questioned
in his official residence without any tipoffs to reporters. In addition,
Netanyahu is accused of obstructing justice for speaking with the
contractor once the story broke in the press, while Weizman is not being
charged with the same crime, even though he sent his top assistants to
"persuade" a journalist not to publish a story about his
misdeeds.
Next in line, Transportation Minister Yitzhak Mordechai took a
temporary leave from office in early March in the face of sexual
harassment charges filed by an unnamed female on his bureau staff. The
story broke just as the country marked International Women’s Day,
adding to the sudden public focus on the former IDF chief-of-staff.
Leaked details of the sex scandal said Mordechai made unwelcome contact
with the staffer on several occasions. Several other women soon came
forward with similar allegations, some dating back to his army days.
Police eventually advised charging Mordechai on three counts of
committing indecent acts by force against three women within the last
eight years. If convicted, Mordechai could face a maximum prison
sentence of seven years. Mordechai proclaims his innocence, but added if
the attorney-general decides to indict him, then he would resign from
the cabinet and fight the charges in court. If Mordechai relinquishes
his position, Barak may use the opportunity to reshuffle his cabinet and
coalition. The future of the new Center party, which Mordechai heads, is
also in doubt after he led it to a poor showing in last year’s
elections.
Not to be forgotten, PM Barak (the campaign finance scandal), former
Cabinet minister Avigdor Kahalani (the tangled Nimrodi affair) and Shas
spiritual mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (incitement), among others,
currently are under investigation or will be questioned by police about
criminal wrong-doings. Stay turned!
COALITION WEATHERS
ADVERSITY<
The broad-but-fragile coalition government strung together by Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak continued to show signs of collapse in recent
months, particularly along the Shas-Meretz fault-line. Education
Minister Yossi Sarid of the leftist Meretz party has refused to allow
his deputy minister, Meshulam Nahari of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party,
to take charge of Shas’ private school system. Sarid insists it would
be like "letting the cat guard the cream," since the education
network is riddled with unpaid debts and corruption. In a Purim sermon
on March 18, Shas spiritual mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef referred to Sarid
as "Satan" and a modern-day "Haman" that needed to
be eradicated. The remarks sparked a public outcry, and although Yosef
explained he was not advocating violence, he remained unapologetic. A
week later, Yosef likened Sarid to "Pharaoh" and labeled him a
"Torah-hating racist." Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein
felt he had little choice but to open a criminal probe on whether the
comments constituted criminal incitement to violence, a sensitive issue
in Israel ever since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. Shas threatened
to leave the coalition over the inquiry, but decided to stay put for
now, after police treated Yosef with kid’s gloves. Meantime, Shas
delivered a set of demands to Barak, prompting Meretz to issue its own
threat to leave the government if they are accepted. Barak’s efforts
to broker a compromise have had limited success, and were put on hold
over the Passover holiday.
Barak also survived several no-confidence votes, including a Likud-sponsored
motion centered on Sarid’s proposal to introduce Israeli school
children to the works of Mahmoud Darwish, a leading Palestinian poet
with extreme nationalist views. Sarid riled many Zionist and religious
MKs with his decision to include a selection by Darwish in the high
school curriculum. The motion was defeated 47 to 42, but one-third of
Barak’s cabinet voted against him. Even members of the secular Shinui
party voted no confidence in Barak, including chairman Tommy Lapid, who
denounced Darwish’s poem entitled, "Get off our land."
Meanwhile, Knesset members left and right have called on Barak to reopen
the coalition agreements or form a unity government because of
dissatisfaction with the lack of progress on socio-economic issues or
the peace process, while the option of early elections is also being
seriously considered for the first time.
PA HAMMERS HATE INTO
CHILDREN
Teachers in Palestinian schools are instructed to drill into
students’ minds that "Zionism is racist and aggressive," and
to implant the value of "wrath toward the alien thief who stole the
homeland and dispersed its people." Such are the chilling findings
of a new report by the Palestinian Media Watch center, headed by Itamar
Marcus, based on a review of the official teacher’s guides
accompanying textbooks used in Palestinian Authority schools. The center
monitors Palestinian newspapers, TV and radio broadcasts, and school
textbooks for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic content. In a prominent
report last year, Marcus found PA textbooks were filled with inciteful
descriptions of Jews and Israelis as cunning, deceitful and treacherous,
and routinely referred to Israel as the "Zionist enemy" and
"oppressors." The new 19-page study reveals that the required
PA teacher’s guides contain much the same. For example, PA teachers
must prepare students for a "Jihad" to liberate all of
"Palestine" and to "cherish the Jihad fighters who quench
the earth of Jerusalem with their blood." They are to instill in
their students the idea that "Jews are dangerous enemies of Allah,
Islam and the Arab nation." They also are instructed to equate
Zionism with "Facism-Nazism," to portray Jews as racial and
religious zealots, and to explain this as the reason why Christians
persecuted Jews over the centuries. Meanwhile, new PA history books
define Israel as a "thieving conqueror," while the only map of
"Palestine" in PA textbooks eliminates Israel.
With the advent of Oslo in 1993, Israel pioneered a curriculum
promoting peace with its Arab neighbors. But the PA has maintained a
hostile curriculum that calls for liberating all of Palestine, while
describing Israel, Jews, and Zionism in the most demonic of terms. A
senior PA official defended the material exposed by Marcus, saying,
"We are sovereign and we will determine what we will teach our
children, without any interference." Palestinian mouthpiece Hanan
Ashwari also dismissed Marcus’ work as "too much Israeli paranoia
and suspicion," and "highly exaggerated much ado about
nothing." But Marcus - an Israeli member of the largely-ineffective
joint anti-incitement committee set up with the PA and US after the Wye
accords - responded: "If we are continuously portrayed as people
who stole their land, that will breed terror, not peace." Despite
the damaging report, the US is increasing its support of Palestinian
education by another $10 million.
"LAND DAY"
RIOTS SPARK STUDENT PROTESTS
Annual "Land Day" protests by Palestinian and Israeli Arabs
turned violent again on March 30, leaving dozens hurt. The largest
rally, and most injuries, took place in the Galilee town of Sakhnin,
where hundreds of masked youths broke from a 10,000-strong march and
attacked an IDF base and Israeli troops keeping a low-profile in nearby
woods. Eight Israeli policemen and over 20 rioters were wounded. Violent
demonstrations were also staged in Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, Gaza and
elsewhere. At one rally, Arab MK Hashem Mahmeed – the first Arab
member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee - exhorted:
"Israeli Arabs must learn from Hizb’Allah how to fight for their
lands, in the same way that Hizb’Allah forced Israel out of
Lebanon." The crowd responded with wild cheers and applause. Land
Day marks the anniversary of riots in 1976 when six Israeli Arabs were
killed protesting the expropriation of their land by the government.
Afterwards, Arab students at leading Israeli universities held
follow-up demonstrations, beginning with a large disturbance at Haifa
University to protest the death of a woman who inhaled tear gas at the
Sakhnin rally. A second day of riots at Haifa University erupted after
an Arab student was arrested for assaulting a Jewish student. The campus
unrest spread to Tel Aviv University and to Mount Scopus, where protests
marred the opening of Hebrew University’s 75th anniversary
celebrations. During the several days of riots, Arab students shouted
nationalist slogans, waved Palestinian flags and clashed with police,
while Jewish students countered with "Hatikvah" and Israeli
flags. Meanwhile, a recent poll found Israeli Arabs increasingly
identifying themselves more as Palestinians living in Israel than as
full-fledged citizens. A full 80% of those surveyed defined themselves
as Palestinian Arab.
JUDGE RULES IRVING A
"PRO-NAZI POLEMICIST"
After an intense, three-month trial, a London judge convincingly
ruled in favor of American Professor Deborah Lipstadt against
self-taught British historian David Irving in a milestone verdict on the
authenticity of the Holocaust. The result of the high-profile libel suit
was hailed by Israeli leaders and Jewish groups worldwide as "a
victory of truth over hate," after many feared that - since the
burden of proof was on the defendant Lipstadt under British libel laws -
the verdict could have been a major setback to efforts at countering an
upsurge in Holocaust denial and neo-Nazism. During one dramatic turn,
Israel rushed Lipstadt the classified prison memories of Nazi war
criminal Adolph Eichmann written before his execution in 1962 in order
to help with her defense. Afterwards, Lipstadt said she was filled with
"intense joy and deep gratitude," but also felt heartache for
Holocaust survivors who had attended the trial and watched Irving’s
mockery firsthand.
The findings vindicated Lipstadt on most of the libel charges
connected with her 1994 book, "Denying the Holocaust: The Growing
Assault on Truth and Memory." Although she fell short in proving
certain minor points about Irving in her book, the judge found they did
not have "any material effect on Irving’s reputation." In
fact, Justice Charles Grey concluded Irving had little reputation to
damage, classifying him as "a right-wing pro-Nazi polemicist."
Grey found he deliberately manipulates historical evidence to suit his
own ideological agenda. He added that Irving unjustifiably characterizes
Hitler in a favorable light, specifically in his attitude toward, and
treatment of, the Jewish people. He found Irving had allied with extreme
right-wing neo-Nazis, and was himself an "anti-Semite", a
"racist", and a "Holocaust denier". In addition to
legal defeat and public disgrace, Irving will have to pay legal fees of
at least $5 million. Meanwhile in a similar development on April 10, a
Swiss court handed down a one-year prison term to Holocaust revisionist
Gaston-Armand Amaudruz, who - like Irving - rejects the existence of
Nazi gas chambers and claims the extermination of over 6 million Jews
was "impossible."
IRANIAN JEWS FIGHTING FOR
THEIR LIVES
The trial of thirteen Iranian Jews charged with espionage will start
on May 1 after defense attorneys won a two-week extension until after
Pessach, saying they needed more time to prepare their case. The Jews,
along with eight Muslims, are accused of spying for the US and Israel,
but both countries deny any connection with them. Ten of the Jews have
been detained for nearly a year, while three were released on bail last
month after being charged with lesser offenses. Despite intense
international pressure for their release, or at least a fair hearing,
the trial will proceed behind closed doors - including a ban on
relatives and the media - due to "national security" reasons.
If convicted, the suspects could face the death penalty. In a similar
case three years ago, two Jews were executed at a Tehran prison.
At its apex, Iran’s Jewish community totaled 100,000 in modern
times; it has now shrunk to approximately 25,000, still the largest
Jewish population in the Middle East outside of Israel. The trial is
threatening the possible renewal of US-Iranian relations after
"moderates" recently won national elections and the US
subsequently lifted a 20-year import ban on certain Iranian luxury
items. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright hopes the gesture will
help open a new dialogue, but she also cited US concerns about Iran’s
support for terrorist groups opposed to the Middle East peace process
and the country’s involvement in drug trafficking. Albright said
Iran’s treatment of the 13 Jewish suspects will be a barometer of
whether Tehran seeks improved ties with the West. But Iranian
hard-liners appear determined to use the case as a pawn in the
nation’s domestic power struggle.
US STEAMED AT ISRAELI
AWACS SALE TO CHINA
President Jiang Zemin just finished the first-ever official visit by
a Chinese head of state to Israel amid controversy over Jerusalem’s
sale of an advanced airborne radar system to Bejing. The AWACS transfer
is opposed by the US, with the Clinton administration leaning heavily on
Prime Minister Ehud Barak to cancel the contract signed three years ago
with China, arguing it will upset the strategic balance of power in Asia
and endanger Taiwan and possibly US forces. Key members of the US
Congress offered the White House "added leverage" by
threatening to fence $250 million of Israel’s annual foreign aid
package, the price of the first plane. But Israel views its developing
relations with China as economically vital, and a means of deterring
Chinese arms transfers to Iran and other regional adversaries. Israel
sells one-fourth of its military exports to China, helping develop its
essential domestic arms industry. Commenting on the US power play, Zemin
indirectly lashed out at American attempts "to monopolize
international affairs and control the fate of other countries."
Israel is sensitive to American concerns, but currently plans to honor
its contract for delivery of one such plane - which does not contain
sensitive US technology and includes an option for up to seven more
aircraft. Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said that in the
competitive international arms market, "there are no friends,"
and that the criticism arose because China is a hot topic in this
year’s US presidential race. He dismissed the argument one early
warning plane could upset the military balance in Asia. Sneh noted
Washington’s sale of AWACs to Saudi Arabia in the 1980s, while
reassuring Israel that they were purely defensive. Sneh also charged the
US with using a double standard, a "steamroller" for Israel
and a gentler attitude for other friendly states like Britain and
France, who also competed for the Chinese contract, but were beaten
fairly by the Israeli bid.
The US duplicity showed when Washington recently announced the sale
to the United Arab Emirates of 80 "Block-60" advanced F-16s
built by Lockheed Martin in a $6.4 billion deal approved by Congress.
The F-16s will be equipped with better radar and weapons systems than
those sold in recent years to Israel, threatening to further undermine
the US commitment to help maintain Israel’s qualitative edge against
any potential array of regional foes. The Pentagon, afraid of losing out
to a European conglomerate on the lucrative sale, even approved
including radar systems more powerful and precise than those used by the
US Air Force. The deal includes $1.3 billion worth of missiles and
weapons for the fighter jets.
AMNESTY RIPS SAUDI REIGN
OF TERROR
In a new report, Amnesty International accuses Saudi Arabia of
operating a justice system founded on terror, secrecy and torture,
resulting in an average of two public beheadings every week, plus an
occasional maiming. The Saudi regime adheres to strict Islamic sharia
law, allowing courts to impose sentences of amputation for theft and
public executions for murder, rape and drug trafficking. Amnesty
revealed the government has "systematically targeted its political
and religious opponents, and abused the rights of migrant workers, women
and other relatively powerless individuals." Trials involving
serious charges are completed in secret in only a few minutes and often
result in death or amputation. Amnesty counted at least 1100 executions
in the past twenty years. Decapitations with swords are done in public
squares on Fridays. Guns are used in cases involving women, sparing them
the shame of uncovering their head and neck in public. At least thirteen
people have been beheaded so far this year. Other punishments include
amputations, with five cases of "cross amputation" - left
foot/right hand - this year alone. Christians, Sikhs and other
minorities are especially targeted by security forces. Saudi officials
blasted Amnesty’s report for applying Western standards of justice to
a Muslim state.
HIGH COURT SPRINGS
LEBANESE DETAINEES
Israel’s High Court of Justice ordered the release of thirteen out
of 15 Lebanese detainees held without trial for over ten years each as
"bargaining chips" for information on Israeli MIAs lost in
fighting in Lebanon in the 1980s. The judgment stated the detainees
could not be held without trial unless they posed a threat to state
security. After a last minute appeal by the family of missing IAF
navigator Ron Arad failed to keep them all in prison, the 13 were freed
on the eve of Passover. The two remaining detainees are leading clerics
for Islamic terrorist factions who were kidnapped from their homes,
Sheik Abdel Karim Obeid of Hizb’Allah in 1989 and Mustafa Dirani of
Amal in 1994; they are still considered "dangerous to national
security." Israel’s security cabinet decided to rush through the
Knesset a bill that would assure Obeid and Dirani remain in custody as
"illegal fighters" under international law. Six other
detainees were released in recent months, in what Israel termed goodwill
gestures to spur progress on the Syrian peace track, but to no avail.
SOURCES FOR THIS DIGEST: Jerusalem Post, Israel-Line, Ha’artez,
Reuters, AP, CNN, Arutz-7, IBA News, Washington Post, Jerusalem Report,
BBC, IMRA, Sky News, CNSNews.com, New York Times, The Independent,
London Times, IRNA, Financial Times.